INSIGHTS is an evidence-based, comprehensive intervention that enhances the social emotional development and academic skills of young children and the behavior management skills of their teachers and parents.
INSIGHTS is based on temperament theory, providing parents and teachers with strategies tailored to fit different children’s personality styles. In addition, children learn empathy and problem-solving strategies to resolve their dilemmas with parents, teachers, and peers.
Our current project, funded by the Institute of Educational Sciences (R305A160177), aims to investigate whether early exposure to INSIGHTS has continued benefits for students in middle school - eight to ten years post-intervention. The INSIGHTS Follow-Up team locates and meets with students who participated in the original efficacy trial to determine whether there is sustained beneficial impact of the INSIGHTS intervention.
Currently, the team has reached over 75% of students still living in the NYC area, and completed almost 200 assessments throughout all 5 boroughs.
Does INSIGHTS work?
Our third prevention trial, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (R305A080512), tested the efficacy of INSIGHTS, compared to a supplemental reading program, in enhancing the academic learning context of primary grade urban classrooms.
Twenty-two low-performing schools were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or a reading program. Multi-modal data were collected at five time points across kindergarten and first grade. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine changes over time in classroom teacher practices, student academic skills and behaviors, and teacher-student relationships. Moderated effects were also tested.
Findings from our recent publication (McCormick et al., 2018) demonstrate the impact of INSIGHTS on instructional support, as well as math and reading skills, by classroom-level scores of shyness. Multi-level modeling demonstrated larger impacts of INSIGHTS on instructional support in first grade classrooms with greater mean classroom-level shyness scores, with an effect size of about 1/2 of a standard deviation. Further analyses showed larger impacts of INSIGHTS on math skills for students in classrooms with greater mean classroom-level shyness scores, with an effect size of about 1/3 of a standard deviation. Findings highlight the importance of considering temperament at the classroom-level when deciding how to allocate resources for temperament-based interventions or social-emotional learning programs.
Main effects on children
| Higher reading achievement | .55 |
| Higher math achievement | .31 |
| Greater sustained achievement | .39 |
| Fewer disruptive behavior problems | .54 |
Effects on classrooms
| More teacher emotional support | .30 |
| Better student engagement (K) | .52 |
| More teacher emotional support (1st) | .68 |
| Better classroom organization (1st) | .93 |
| Less off-task behavior (1st) | .58 |
Effects on children with challenging temperaments
| Better student-teacher relationships | .65 |
| Fewer disruptive behavior problems | .42 |
| More classroom engagement | .35 |
| Less off-task behavior | .33 |
Effects on shy children
| Higher math skills | .36 |
| Improved critical thinking | .40 |
| More classroom engagement | .22 |
*Effect sizes are presented in standard deviation (SD) units.